RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — A story one hundred years in the making. A century-old time capsule at the Pennington County Courthouse is being opened up.

The Pennington County Courthouse was built in 1922. The time capsule was buried then and is being opened this week a hundred years later.

“After some research, we learned that there was an air shaft that was three stories up above us here in the front of the building. It was sort of like National Treasure, none of us knew that it was even there. It was hidden behind the ceiling tiles. We came down here one night to open up the ceiling and sure enough, it was there,” Mike Kuhl, Dir. of Buildings and Grounds, said.

After weeks of searching and drilling, Mike Kuhl and Dave Eccleston, along with several members of the Pennington County community, are about to find out what has been inside the time capsule all these years.

“We had some technology come in and show us exactly where it was supposed to be at and we kept digging until we found it,” Dave Eccleston, Ast. Dir. of Buildings and Grounds, said.

Inside the metal box, we found newspapers from the 1900s, unique coins, and even a one-hundred-year-old can of tobacco.

“Shows us an insight of what was going on at the time when they were doing it, I think it’s just a small snapshot,” Eccleston said.

With help from the Journey Museum curators, these items will be documented and handled with care to preserve their history.

“I think this is a really fun thing and just thinking that June of 1922 was the last time anybody saw what was in this box,” Kuhl said.

County officials say the Centennial Committee is discussing a new time capsule to bury and open in another hundred years.